Even though it is impossible for one week to tour all the unexplored areas of London, personally, I had a great experience being in London with my family for one week.

My interest was piqued by the Greenwich public library, which was only a three-minute walk away from the hotel. The traditional way of reading is still alive in the UK despite the age of digital reading, and I wondered if Oman could have a public library in every district. It is libraries that produce intelligent people and a good society, and it is also these places where productive minds meet and share ideas that contribute to the development of a society.

Greenwich is famous for Cutty Sark, which we visited during the trip. According to history, a contract for the construction of Cutty Sark was signed in 1869 with Scott & Linton. 
After buying tickets and entering, we were blown away by how hard people worked without technology. The UK government has turned Cutty Sark into a source of income today, which gave me an idea for developing the tourism sector in Oman, which will increase the national income and job opportunities.

One of my dreams was to visit Oxford city and this time I got to fulfil it as I wasn’t able to visit in 2008. There are beautiful buildings throughout the city, and I could also see the spread of knowledge and education, as Oxford is famous for its university (Oxford).

Rather than buying unnecessary items with money, I came to believe that money must be spent on experiences. 

“I’m Shampoor Ahmed, a university student, and this is my part-time job so I can survive and pay for my pocket money”, said Ahmed, the Uber driver. 

The way he engaged his passengers with enthusiasm was admirable. “We have Omani students at our university, and I like Omani Halwa”, he said in response to my question about his study life. “Here is a Halwa for you”, I offered, since we had a small box from Al Diwaniya. It was a coincidence. He didn’t believe it.   

Travelling often brings some difficulties, I had the same experience as the driver who was supposed to pick us up from Heathrow Airport (Terminal 4) to the hotel left before we could get out. 

Having nowhere else to go, I called my friend and he arranged to pick us up from the airport at his house in Elephant Castle and gave us a great welcome. In addition, I did not get value for the price I paid for the holiday package which I purchased. However, this was a learning experience that someone has to do proper calculations before travelling or choosing the best travel agent next time.

When I tried to withdraw money from an ATM at the train station, the ATM refused me because the debit card was blocked by the bank. This made me angry because I told the bank’s ‘call centre’ that I would be travelling to the UK and the card would be unblocked there. I had to call the bank from the UK in order to unblock the card so that I could withdraw money.

I tried using the same card to pay the bill on the second day, but the card had been blocked for POS machines overseas. In any case, I contacted the bank to have it unblocked. Bank services of this kind are really inconvenient, especially when one is overseas.

Disclaimer : The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of TAS and TAS does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.